On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at 12:00 pm ET, PCG will host the next installment of the Public Health Connect Conversation Series – Leading the Charge: Dynamic Strategies to Enhance and Empower the CHW Workforce. During this live discussion, participants will learn about Community Health Workers (CHWs) and the best ways to leverage their unique expertise, including but not limited to:

Now more than ever, supporting and strengthening your care team workforce is essential in promoting community health, and our esteemed speakers will share their experiences and approaches of how they have been able to tap into the power of CHWs. Participants will also have the opportunity to engage in the discussion with our speakers during a live question and answer segment.

This webinar is a part of the PCG Public Health Connect series, which spotlights real clients, real solutions, and real tools developed for actionable change and is ideal for public health professionals, researchers, policymakers, students, and anyone interested in the future of health and wellness in our communities.

Please click here to register for this discussion! After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to join.

We look forward to your participation and an engaging discussion!

Johanna Lopez joined the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in December 2023 as the Director for the Office of Community Health Workers. In this role, Johanna plays a critical leadership role in advancing and strengthening the CHW workforce. She is responsible for developing, overseeing, and implementing community health worker efforts at MDPH. Johanna works to coordinate activities with other initiatives within the Division of Community-based Prevention and Care, the Bureau of Community Health and Prevention, and numerous other Bureaus and Offices within DPH. Johanna earned her Master of Science Degree in Health Care Management from BayPath University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Healthcare Management from the College of Our Lady of the Elms. Over the past eleven years, she has consulted on care coordination, data collection, project development, quality improvement systems, and more. Johanna has also served as a consultant to a Medicaid ACO for Community Health Worker and Care Coordination integration and as a Board Chair of an ACO Patient and Family Advisory Council. Johanna brings extensive experience and innovative ideas to improve the quality of community health services.

 

Valerie Roxanne Edwards, LCSW, has over 35 years-experience in the governance and operation of community-based non-profits, including oversight of an array of psychiatric, HIV, and substance abuse programs and management of over 100 FTE staff serving residents of San Francisco County. She had a continuing appointment as a core faculty member of the School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley from 2000-2015 during which she taught foundation social work and apply a multicultural lens to organization service delivery and oversaw behavioral health field placements for MSW candidates. More recently she worked for Alameda County residents first as the Director of Social Services at Alameda Health system and then through Alameda Health’s Whole Person Care Initiative where she developed and oversees training and deployment of Peer Advisors; county residents whose demographic and live experience mirrors the WPC population they supported; principally Black or Mam speaking residents. Valerie received her MSW from UC Berkeley in 1986 and earned her license in clinical social work in 1988. For personal and professional reasons, her work has always had a particular focus on Black families and communities.